''Alcyonium glomeratum'' or red sea fingers is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
soft coral
Alcyonacea, or soft corals, are an order of corals. In addition to the fleshy soft corals, the order Alcyonacea now contains all species previously known as "gorgonian corals", that produce a more or less hard skeleton, though quite different f ...
in the family
. It is found around the southern and western coasts of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
[MarLIN]
/ref>
Description
Red sea fingers is similar in shape to ''Alcyonium digitatum
''Alcyonium digitatum'' or dead man's fingers is a species of soft coral in the family Alcyoniidae. It is found around the coasts of the northern Atlantic Ocean and other temperate waters such as the South Pacific.
Description
Dead man's fingers ...
'' but is usually blood red or rust coloured. The finger-shaped lobes are slender and can be up to thirty centimetres long. The polyps
A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are roughly cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the vase-shaped body. In solitary polyps, the aboral (opposite to oral) end i ...
are white and each one has eight pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...
tentacles which give the colony a feathery appearance when they are extended.[
]
Distribution
This coral is found on the west coast of Britain and Ireland, north to western Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
and south to the Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
. It is quite localised but may be abundant in places.[Encyclopedia of Marine Life of Britain and Ireland]
/ref>
It is also found on the East Coast of United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
(Gulf of Oman
The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...
- Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
) on wreck: Inshcape-2 opposite to Khurr-Fakkan City. Below Photo was taken on Inshcape-2 Wreck by Yahia Mokhtar, December 2014 (seabed 22m) and shows the coral.
Gallery
File:Red fingers (Alcyonium glomeratum) on Inshcape-II wreck, Khurr-Fakkan, UAE..JPG , Red fingers (Alcyonium glomeratum) on Inshcape-II wreck, December 2014, Khurr-Fakkan, UAE
File:2008-01-26_Inshcape_1_Khurr-Fakkan_-_UAE_(1).jpg , Red fingers (Alcyonium glomeratum) on Inshcape-I wreck, Khurr-Fakkan, UAE
File:2008-01-26_Inshcape_1_Khurr-Fakkan_-_UAE_(2).jpg , Red fingers (Alcyonium glomeratum) on Inshcape-I wreck, Khurr-Fakkan, UAE
File:2008-01-26_Inshcape_1_Khurr-Fakkan_-_UAE_(3).jpg , Red fingers (Alcyonium glomeratum) on Inshcape-I wreck, Khurr-Fakkan, UAE
Habitat
This coral is found on bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...
in gullies, crevices and under overhangs in sheltered locations in the sublittoral zone at depths exceeding ten metres.[ It favours open water on the lee side of islands and rocks.][
]
References
External links
*
Alcyoniidae
Animals described in 1843
Taxa named by Arthur Hill Hassall
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